Page 76 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide 2016 - Amsterdam

74 ❯❯ The Top 10 of Everything

Amsterdam for Free

Museumplein
4 Flat as a pancake, the green
lawns and gravelled spaces of
Museumplein (see p122), stretching
out behind the Rijksmuseum (see
pp16–19), are used for a variety of
outdoor activities, from touring
circuses to political protests. Come
to see what’s happening and ponder
the modern memorial to those
who perished in Ravensbrück
concentration camp (see p51).
Concerts
Schuttersgalerij 5
Amsterdam is one of the most
Schuttersgalerij
1 popular tourist destinations in
(Civic Guards Gallery)
Europe and to help entertain its
Map M4 • Gedempte Begijnensloot many visitors, the city puts on a wide
• Open 10am–5pm daily range of free concerts both outside
This large, glass-covered and inside. Two prime locations are
passageway is used to display the Concertgebouw (see p122) and
Amsterdam portraits through the the Vondelpark (see p121). For what’s
centuries, anything from the stars of happening and where, check out
Ajax football team to the Civic Guard www.iamsterdam.com.
of Amsterdam’s Golden Age. The
gallery is attached to – but separate
from – the Amsterdam Museum
(see pp30–33).
Begijnhof
2
Founded in the 14th century,
Amsterdam’s delightful Begijnhof
comprises a huddle of immaculately
maintained old houses looking onto
a central green. A peaceful and
secluded spot, the complex was
built as a home for the begijns Concertgebouw
(Beguines) – members of a Catholic
Ferry across the
sisterhood living as nuns but with 6
the right to return to the secular IJ Harbour
world (see pp26–7). MAP E2 • De Ruijterkade, behind
Centraal Station • Ferries to and from
Vondelpark
3 Buiksloterweg every 15min; journey
A welcome splash of greenery, time 5min • 0900 80 11 • www.gvb.nl
the Vondelpark (see p121) is a Long Amsterdam’s nautical lifeline,
favourite with the locals, who come the murky waters of the River IJ
here to ramble and amble, jog and still hum with river traffic from boats
chat, tend their babies and catch free and barges to yachts and freighters.
summertime concerts. The park also No fewer than five free passenger
boasts a wide variety of plants and ferries shuttle across the river from
trees, a network of waterways, a behind Centraal Station; the most
pond, and the wonderful Het Blauwe interesting stop is Buiksloterweg
Theehuis (see p66 and p125). near the EYE (see p131).

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